Twin regulator arrangement

ABSTRACT

Two gas service regulators each having substantially the same size orifices, which orifices together meet the maximum volume required at the lowest inlet pressure, are connected together by a unitary valve body having outlet and inlet chambers each common to both regulators, each regulator having pressure-responsive means and a valve seat operated thereby, and said valve body having orifice tubes, one for each valve seat, to normally control the flow of gas from said inlet chamber to said outlet chamber, there being in said inlet chamber auxiliary valve means adapted to control the flow of gas from said inlet chamber to said orifice tubes in the event of malfunctioning of either regulator or of foreign matter being lodged between the valve seat and its orifice tube, said orifice tubes being axially slidable and axially aligned, said auxiliary valve means comprising said orifice tubes, and a coil spring interposed between said inlet chamber and said orifice tubes and being compressible to control the flow of gas through its coils to the extent of essentially stopping the flow of gas from said inlet chamber to said orifice tubes in the event of malfunctioning of the regulator or regulators.

United States Patent [191 Hughes TWIN REGULATOR ARRANGEMENT [75]Inventor: George C. Hughes, Anderson, Ind.

[73] Assignee: Textron Inc., Providence, R.l.

[22] Filed: Jan. 3, 1972 211 App]. No.: 214,930

[52] US. Cl 137/110, l37/505.47, 137/599 [51] Int. Cl. F16k 31/12 [58]Field of Search 137/109, 110, 116.3, 137/116.5, 505.12, 505.46, 505.47,599; 25l/D1G. 3

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,260,278 7/1966 Lund et al7l37/505.l2 X 2,898,909 8/1959 .layet 137/110 337,431 3/1886 Pintsch25l/DlG. 3 3,151,628 10/1964 Heckert 25l/D1G. 3

3,488,685 l/1970 Hughes 137/] 16.5 3,525,356 8/1970 Johnson et a1....l37/505.46 X 3,599,658 8/1971 Kruzan et al. 137/1 16.5

Primary ExaminerAlan Cohan Att0rney-Arthur A. Johnson et a1.

[ July 3,1973

[57] ABSTRACT Two gas service regulators each having substantially thesame size orifices, which orifices together meet the maximum volumerequired at the lowest inlet pressure, are connected together by aunitary valve body having outlet and inlet chambers each common to bothregulators, each regulator having pressure-responsive means and a valveseat operated thereby, and said valve body having orifice tubes, one foreach'valve seat, to normally control the flow of gas from said inletchamber to said outlet chamber, there being in said inlet chamberauxiliary valve means adapted to control the flow of gas from said inletchamber to said orifice tubes in the event of malfunctioning of eitherregulator or of foreign matter being lodged between the valve seat andits orifice tube, said orifice tubes being axially slidable and axiallyaligned, said auxiliary valve means comprising said orifice tubes, and acoil spring interposed between said inlet chamber and said orifice tubesand being compressible to control the flow of gas through its coils tothe extent of essentially stopping the flow of gas from said inletchamber to said orifice tubes in the event of malfunctioning of theregulator or regulators.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures TWIN REGULATOR ARRANGEMENT This inventionrelates to gas pressure regulating, and more particularly toimprovements in gas regulators.

l-Ieretofore it was quite the common practice for two service regulatorsto be installed in parallel piping with a common inlet and outletarrangement, so that smaller and less costly regulators could be used.In such arrangements, two smaller orifices may be used to meet themaximum volume required at the lowest inlet pressure rather than onelarge orifice which would otherwise be needed.

According to the present invention, two such service regulators areincorporated with a single valve body which eliminates the need forparallel piping, thus reducing the number of gastight connections whichotherwise would be required and saving in the cost of piping andinstallation.

Heretofore it was customary in many installations for safety sake toprovide a service regulator connectedto an upstream monitor regulatorwith a downstream control line to control the flow of gas to the serviceconnections in the event that the service regulator malfunctions.

To protect downstream equipment and to avoid the excessive or dangerousescape of gas to the atmosphere through the safety vent means of theregulators, in the event of either or both of the regulatorsmalfunctioning, for instance by foreign matter becoming lodged betweenan orifice tube and a valve seat, the present invention provides in saidvalve body an auxiliary monitoring valve means for controlling the flowof gas from an inlet chamber in said valve body to the orifice meansleading to the service regulators.

Preferably the auxiliary valve is in the form of an expanded coilspring, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 337,431, through the coils ofwhich the gas flows to the orifice tubes so that when the spring iscompressed the space between the coils is reduced to restrict the flowof gas to the orifice tubes, even to the degree'of the space between thecoils being essentially closed to substantially cutoff the flow of gasdepending on the cause or degree of malfunctioning. The auxliary valveobviates the need for a monitor regulator, and being simple andinexpensive it substantially reduces the cost of gas serviceinstallations.

According to the present invention in its preferred form hereinillustrated and described, the orifice tube means are coaxial andaxially slidably mounted in and extend through a dividing wall in thevalve body from the inlet chamber to the outlet chamber, their outwardmovement being limited by stop means on the orifice tube means engagingthe dividing wall. The coil spring is coaxial with the orifice tubemeans and engages the inner end of the orifice tubes.

In operation, the diaphragm control valve seat means for the tworegulators of the present invention normally operate simultaneously inregulating the downstream gas pressure in the service line by movingcloser to or away from engagement with the end of the orifice tubes asthe gas pressure in the line fluctuates. However, should a malfunctionof one or both of the regulators prevent either valve seat means fromstopping the flow of gas through either orifice means, the downstreampressure would become so high that the gas would escape through thesafety valve in the diaphragm to the atmosphere chamber and from thelatter through the safety vent valve to the atmosphere. This could causea dangerous condition to exist.

With the use of the present invention, however, when force is applied tothe outer end of the orifice tube by foreign matter preventing the valveseat from engaging the end of the orifice tube, the latter will beforced inwardly against the force of the coil spring and thus cause thecoils of the spring to close more or less as the pressure in theregulators varies. If the foreign matter is sufficiently large or theregulator malfunctions so that there is not substantial space betweenthe coils, the

flow of gas will be virtually stopped.

When the pressure in the outlet chamber exceeds somewhat a normaloverpressure, in the above situation the operative regulator which isstill operative would respond and cause its valve seat means to more orless close on its orifice tube and would merely control the flow of gasto the outlet chamber jointly with the coil spring until the pressurereaches a value at which its valve seat closes on its orifice tube inwhich event the spring valve solely controls the flow of gas.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the twin regulators of the present inventionshowing parts of the regulators and coupling valve body in section.

FIG. 2 is a vertical section of the valve body showing a piece offoreign matter lodged between an inlet orifice and the adjacent valveseat.

FIG. 3 is a view like FIG. 2 but showing the relative positions of theparts when the monitor valve stops the flow of gas from the inletchamber to the outlet chamber of the valve body.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of one of the two identical regulators andthe valve body showing the position of the parts when maximum allowableoperating pressure is present in the regulators.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a modification of the present inventionwherein the flow of gas to the orifice stance, according to U.S. Pat.No. 3,488,685. Each regulator, as illustrated and described herein,comprises a housing 10 having a diaphragm 11, preferably of syntheticmaterial, extending across its upper end. The diaphragm 11 is securelyclamped in place by a cover 12 and forms a pressure chamber 13 and anatmospheric pressure chamber 14.

Each diaphragm 11 is backed up by a metal plate 15 which carries aspring perch 16 which supports one end of a main regulator spring 17extending upwardly into the regulator spring housing 18 carried by thecover 12. The upper end of the spring 17 engages an abutment I9 threadedinto the housing 18 and adjustable, after the removal of a cap 20 forthe housing 18, to provide the required counter pressure on thediaphragms 11.

Each diaphragm II has a central opening 21 which is normally closed by asafety valve head 22 which is urged to closed position by a spring 23disposed around the valve stem 24. The spring 23 has one end engaging avalve stem bearing 25 carried by the perch l6 and the other end engagingan abutment 26 on the valve stem 24. Normally, the safety valve head 22moves with the diaphragm. I

Each safety valve head 22 has an apertured extension 27 which receivesone end of a pivoted lever 28. One of said levers is connected to aninlet valve seat 29A in the regulator A and the other is connected to aninlet valve seat 29B in the regulator B. The valve seats 29A and 298control the flow of gas to the chambers 13 in response to movement ofthe diaphragms 11 under pressure in the pressure chambers.

As shown in FIG. 4, the spring perch 16 of each regulator, as shown inApplicants U.S. Pat. No. 3,488,685, has a plurality of apertures 30 andthe valve stem 24 loosely carries a yoke 31 which is supported on thevalve head 22, the yoke 31 having wings 32 extending through theapertures 30 and laterally to a position to engage the undersurface ofthe cover 12 to stop movement of the safety valve when required.Preferably, the yoke 31 applies pressure at which the safety valve opensdirectly to the valve head 22 in response to abnormal movement of itsdiaphragm. It will be noted that the operation of the yoke 31 isentirely independent of the cap for the regulator spring housing.

As shown in the accompanying drawings, each regulator has a ventingvalve housing 33 shown as integral with the cover 12 and has an opening34 leading to the atmosphere through a vent screen 35. A vent valve seat36 having a vent valve 37 is urged against the seat 36 by a spring 38.When excessive gas pressure is applied to the underside of the diaphragm11, the safety valve head 22 permits gas to escape to the chamber 14through the vent valve 37, and to the vent housing 33, and out to theatmosphere.

According to the present invention, the service regulators A and B arejoined together by a unitary valve body 39 having a socket portion 40Ato receive a neck portion 41A on the housing 10 of the regulator A, anda socket portion 40B to receive a neck portion 418 on the housing 10 ofthe regulator B.

The passage 42 of each housing 10 communicates with an outlet chamber 43of the valve body 39 which has a single outlet port 44 adapted to beconnected to the pipe 45 of the downstream service system. Opposite theoutlet port 44, the valve body 39 has an inlet port 46 leading to aninlet chamber 47. An internal dividing wall 48 separates the outletchamber 43 from the inlet chamber 47. However, communication between thechambers 47 and 43 may only be had through orifice tubes 49A and 498which cooperate with and are under the control of the valve seats 29Aand 29B respectively.

Heretofore it has been quite common for two-service regulators, such asthe regulators A and B, to be installed in parallel with common outletand inlet piping arrangements. In this way, two regulators, each havingsmaller orifices, could be used to meet the maximum volume required atthe lowest inlet pressure instead of one regulator with a large orifice.

Since it was the practice to adjust such regulators to maintain the sameoutlet pressure and to'pass one-half the volume of gas, if one of suchregulators malfunctioned for any reason, the outlet pressure couldexceed the predetermined overlimit and the functioning regulator wouldshut off its orifice. However, the nonfunctioning regulator would notshut off its orifice, but

would continue to allow gas at full inlet pressure to flow to the outletchamber 43 and escape past the safety valve heads 22 into the diaphragmchambers 14 causing the vent valves 37 to open andpermit an excessive(and possibly dangerous) amount of gas to escape to the atmosphere.

The present invention retains the economical advantages of the parallelarrangement of the two service regulators as above referred to, andprovides monitoring means for limiting or, if necessary, preventing theflow of gas at high pressure from the inlet chamber 47 to the outletchamber 43 through the diaphragms '11 to the vent valves 37 and to theatmosphere.

For instance, if, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, an obstacle 50becomes lodged between the orifice tube 49B and the valve seat 298, thelatter cannot function to restrict the orifice tube 498, and thereforethe under-thediaphragm pressure will cause the diaphragm 11 in thefunctioning regulator A to move its valve seat 29A against its orificetube 49A and stop the flow of gas thereto, but the gas would continue toflow through the orifice tube 493 with the result that a dangerousamount of gas may be forced into the atmosphere through the vent valves37.

According to the present invention, this dangerous result of amalfunctioning regulator is prevented by providing a safety ormonitoring valve to reduce or pre vent the flow of gas from the inletchamber 47 to or through the orifice tubes 49A and 49B.

This is accomplished, in the form of this invention illustrated in FIGS.1 to 4, by having the orifice tubes 49A and 49B mounted coaxially inbushings 51 in opposite wall portions 48A and 48B of the dividing wall48 for axial sliding movement toward and from each other, and providinga coil spring 52 interposed between flanges 53 of the tubes and normallyholding the tubes in their outermost positions with the flanges 53engaging the bushing 51. The spring 52 is so designed that in theextended position shown in FIG. 2 there is sufficient space between thecoils to allow the free flow of gas under permissible overpressure. Theends of the bushings 51 have seals 51a.

In the normal functioning of the regulators, their diaphragms 11 movethe valve seats 29A amd 29B toward and from the orifice tubes 49A and498 respectively in maintaining the desired pressure of the gas at theoutlet port 44 without disturbing the positions of the orifice tubes 49Aand 498.

Should either regulator for any reason fail to function as intended, thegas pressure in the outlet chamber 43 will momentarily rise or drop andthe other regulator would respond maintaining the pressure withinlimits.

Thus, each regulator in effect acts as a monitor for the other. However,if the failure results in the normal overpressure being exceeded, whichwould occur if a piece of foreign matter 50 should be lodged between theorifice tube 49A and the valve seat 29B, for instance, as shown in FIG.3, in being moved to closed position the valve seat 29A will engage theorifice tube 49A, close it and move it inwardly. At the same time thevalve seat 298 cannot engage the orifice tube 498 because of the foreignmatter 50, and therefore it would force the orifice tube 498 inwardlycausing the coils of the spring 52 to be brought closer together more orless depending on the pressure of the gas under the diaphragms torestrict the flow of gas to the outlet chamber 43.-

The proportions of the parts and their adjustments are such that when adeterminate excessive overpressure is reached in the outlet chamber 43,the diaphragms 11 of both regulators will cause the valve seats 29A and298 to apply sufficient force to the orifice tubes 49A and 498 to causethe coils of the spring 52 to come tightly together and close the spacebetween the coils, thereby practically stopping the flow of gas to theoutlet chamber 43, except for a slight amount that may seep through themetal-to-metal surfaces of the coils of the spring 52 and which maysafely escape to the atmosphere through the vent valve 37.

In FIG. 5 there is shown a modification of the safety device shown inFIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 5, the orifice tubes 49A and 498, whichare slidably mounted in bushings 51 in the portions 48A and 48B of thedividing wall 48, are held in their normal positions with flanges 53thereon engaging said side wall by the spring 52. In this position, theinner ends 58 of the tubes 49A and 49B are far enough apart to allow gasto freely flow through the space 59 from the inlet chamber 47 throughthe spring 52 and orifice tubes to the outlet chamber 43.

If either of the valve seats 29A or 29B is prevented from engaging theirrespective orifice tubes 49A and 498 by foreign matter being lodgedbetween the valve seat and the orifice tube, the latter will be movedinwardly causing the space 59 to be reduced and thus restrict the flowof gas to the orifice tubes. If the pressure of the gas is sufficientlyexcessive, the ends 58 of the orifice tubes, one or both of which mayhave a rubber tip 60, will be brought together to stop the flow of gasto the outlet chamber.

The provision of a coil spring functioning as a safety control for aservice regulator is described and claimed in my US. Pat. No. 3,613,725grated Oct. 19, 1971.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the claimsand portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. Gas pressure regulating means comprising two service regulators eachhaving a housing, a cover therefor and diaphragm means securedtherebetween and forming a service pressure chamber and an atmosphericpressure chamber; a unitary valve body forming a union between saidregulators, said valve body having a dividing wall forming an inletchamber adapted to be connected to an inlet line and an outlet chamberadapted to be connected to a service line, said outlet chamber being indirect communication with said pressure chambers of both saidregulators, said valve body having two orifice means communicating withsaid inlet chamber and said outlet chamber, one of said orifice meansbeing provided for each regulator; each said regulator having valve seatmeans and means connecting its diaphragm means to its valve seat meansfor operation thereof, said valve seat means cooperating with saidorifice means to control the flow of gas therethrough to said outletchamber, said orifice means collectively having such gas flow capacityas to supply the maximum volume required at the lowest inlet pressure,and said respective diaphragm means and valve seat means being adaptednormally to function simultaneously and continuously to control thedownstream pressure of said pressure regulating means, and auxiliaryvalve means in said valve body responsive to the outlet pressure of thegas adapted to regulate the flow of gas from said inlet chamber to saidorifice means in the event either of said valve seat means or saidorifice means fails to function as intended.

2. Gas pressure regulating means according to claim 1 in which saidorifice means comprises two axially aligned orifice tubes mounted insaid dividing wall in said valve body and axially slidable thereon;means for limiting the outward movement of said orifice tubes with theinner portions thereof axially spaced apart a determinate distance; saidauxiliary valve means comprising a coil spring coaxial with said orificetubes and engaging the inner ends of said tubes to normally hold thelatter at the outer limits of their movements, said coil spring inexpanded condition normally allowing gas to flow at a determinate ratefrom said inlet chamber through the spaces between its coils into saidorifice tubes to said pressure chambers of the regulators, said coilspring being compressed to more or less close the spaces between itscoils to reduce the flow of gas to said orifice tubes and to saidpressure chambers when the inner ends of said orifice tubes are broughtmore or less together and to stop such flow of gas when said spacesbetween said coils are closed by force applied to one or both of saidorifice tubes by said valve seat means due to malfunctioning of eitheror both regulators.

3. Gas pressure regulating means according to claim 2 in which there arecooperating stop means on said orifice tubes and said dividing walllimiting the outward movement of said orifice tubes under the influenceof said coil spring.

4. Gas pressure regulating means according to claim 1 in which saidorifice means comprises two spaced axially aligned orifice tubes axiallyslidably mounted in said dividing wall, cooperating stop means on saidorifice tubes and said dividing wall to limit the outward movement ofsaid orifice tubes with their inner ends of said tubes normally spacedfrom each other sufficiently to permit the flow of gas from the inletchamber to the outlet chamber of said housing to the maximum rate offlow desired, and said auxiliary valve means comprises spring meansholding said orifice tubes at the limits of their outward movements andadapted to yield to permit the relative movement between the inner endsof the orifice tubes to more or less close and open the space betweensaid inner ends to regulate the flow of gas from the inlet chamber tothe outlet chamber if foreign matter interposed between the outer endsof either tube and the valve seat means prevents the latter from closingthe orifice and causes the orifice tube to move inwardly of the dividingwall.

1. Gas pressure regulating means comprising two service regulators eachhaving a housing, a cover therefor and diaphragm means securedtherebetween and forming a service pressure chamber and an atmosphericpressure chamber; a unitary valve body forming a union between saidregulators, said valve body having a dividing wall forming an inletchamber adapted to be connected to an inlet line and an outlet chamberadapted to be connected to a service line, said outlet chamber being indirect communication with said pressure chambers of both saidregulators, said valve body having two orifice means communicating withsaid inlet chamber and said outlet chamber, one of said orifice meansbeing provided for each regulator; each said regulator having valve seatmeans and means connecting its diaphragm means to its valve seat meansfor operation thereof, said valve seat means cooperating with saidorifice means to control the flow of gas therethrough to said outletchamber, said orifice means collectively having such gas flow capacityas to supply the maximum volume required at the lowest inlet pressure,and said respective diaphragm means and valve seat means being adaptednormally to function simultaneously and continuously to control thedownstream pressure of said pressure regulating means, and auxiliaryvalve means in said valve body responsive to the outlet pressure of thegas adapted to regulate the flow of gas from said inlet chamber to saidorifice means in the event either of said valve seat means or saidorifice means fails to function as intended.
 2. Gas pressure regulatingmeans according to claim 1 in which said orifice means comprises twoaxially aligned orifice tubes mounted in said dividing wall in saidvalve body and axially slidable thereon; means for limiting the outwardmovement of said orifice tubes with the inner portions thereof axiallyspaced apart a determinate distance; said auxiliary valve meanscomprising a coil spring coaxial with said orifice tubes and engagingthe inner ends of said tubes to normally hold the latter at the outerlimits of their movements, said coil spring in expanded conditionnormally allowing gas to flow at a determinate rate from said inletchamber through the spaces between its coils into said orifice tubes tosaid pressure chambers of the regulators, said coil spring beingcompressed to more or less close the spacEs between its coils to reducethe flow of gas to said orifice tubes and to said pressure chambers whenthe inner ends of said orifice tubes are brought more or less togetherand to stop such flow of gas when said spaces between said coils areclosed by force applied to one or both of said orifice tubes by saidvalve seat means due to malfunctioning of either or both regulators. 3.Gas pressure regulating means according to claim 2 in which there arecooperating stop means on said orifice tubes and said dividing walllimiting the outward movement of said orifice tubes under the influenceof said coil spring.
 4. Gas pressure regulating means according to claim1 in which said orifice means comprises two spaced axially alignedorifice tubes axially slidably mounted in said dividing wall,cooperating stop means on said orifice tubes and said dividing wall tolimit the outward movement of said orifice tubes with their inner endsof said tubes normally spaced from each other sufficiently to permit theflow of gas from the inlet chamber to the outlet chamber of said housingto the maximum rate of flow desired, and said auxiliary valve meanscomprises spring means holding said orifice tubes at the limits of theiroutward movements and adapted to yield to permit the relative movementbetween the inner ends of the orifice tubes to more or less close andopen the space between said inner ends to regulate the flow of gas fromthe inlet chamber to the outlet chamber if foreign matter interposedbetween the outer ends of either tube and the valve seat means preventsthe latter from closing the orifice and causes the orifice tube to moveinwardly of the dividing wall.